A shared move can involve genuinely different employment, study, relationship, and arrival plans for each person. Record everyone's citizenship, relationship, age, and intended activity before assuming that one person's status automatically supplies every permission the household needs — a blended family in particular needs each relationship documented on its own terms.
Document a stepchild's relationship separately from a biological child's
Hypothetical example: a Windsor-area applicant's household includes a biological child and a stepchild from a spouse's earlier marriage. TD, L-2, or E-2 dependent status for a stepchild generally requires evidence of the qualifying stepparent-stepchild relationship, which is a different evidentiary question than a birth certificate alone answers for a biological child. Gather the marriage record establishing the step-relationship and confirm the child's age and marital status separately — do not assume the same document set that worked for one child will automatically cover the other. For the ordinary immigration stepchild definition, the marriage creating the relationship must have occurred before the child turned 18. Check that date separately from the under-21 and unmarried requirements for the dependent category.
Treat remote work as work, not as a footnote
Record any work a spouse intends to keep doing remotely for a Canadian employer while physically present in the United States. TD status does not authorize employment; a qualifying E or L spouse is employment-authorized incident to status, though the individual's own documentation still matters — the employer's home country alone does not decide the answer, and an unaddressed remote-work arrangement can raise its own status questions.
Work out the consequence of a date actually changing
Ask what happens if one person cannot begin their intended activity, or cannot arrive, on the preferred date. Keep school, housing, and employment conditions available for a genuinely practical review. For any permanent-residence plan, have visa availability and child-age questions assessed individually — do not assume a payment or a petition filing freezes anyone's eligibility. The goal is a plan grounded in actual permissions and clearly flagged open decisions.
What else is on your mind?
Is a matching job title enough for TN?Can years of experience replace a degree for TN?Can my own U.S. company employ me under TN?Can my spouse work if I hold TN status?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.